A blog discussing the forms and fashion of fencing in the Victorian Age

Saturday, September 27, 2014

The Victorian Fencing Outfit

The true
fencing outfit, including mask, fencing jacket and glove came in to common use
during the mid-nineteenth century, and was not regulated until after the
inaugural Olympics of 1896, where international competitions began to demand
uniformity in both costume and rules (rules continued to be disputed among the
fencing countries, instigating the formation of the FIE, the International
Fencing Federation, in 1913). Throughout the century various colors and styles
were allowed, particularly for the women who at that time did not participate
in competitions. The outfit changed along with the fashions of the times as
well.

Paraphernalia of Fencing from 1911 Encyclopedia of Sport and Games

At the
beginning of the 19th century there was not much of a fencing
uniform. Even the mask, conceived by the fencing master La Boessiere in 1780,
was not commonly worn, still considered ungentlemanly and showing a lack of
skill. Certain customs were adopted to protect the face, such as the point of
the foil being kept low and withholding the riposte after a parry until the
opponent had time to recover. Images from manuals probably accurately portrayed
the outfits worn, everyday clothes and a cravat or “gros mouchoir” to protect
the neck.

Watercolor of Henry Angelo's Fencing Academy, by Rowlandson, 1787

from the 1829 London Encyclopedia

The early
masks were solid metal with openings for the eyes and tied around the head.

Early fencing Equipment from the Diderot Encyclopedia

By 1822 the
fencing outfit has become a bit more standardized. The artists George and
Robert Cruickshank depict a fencing match at the rooms in St. James Street. The
fencers wear a wire mesh mask that covers the face and short high collared
white jackets that button up on the side. The masks do not have any bib. The
fencers wear slippers or sandals on their feet. Some of the jackets in the
background have color to them. It is difficult to tell if they wear gloves, but
DeBast in 1836 recommends a padded glove that also protects the wrist but does
not restrict it, and that the inside of the glove must very flexible.

Cruikshank's picture of fencing on St. James Street in 1822

In Maclaren’s
System of Fencing published in 1864
he recommends that

“All exposed
parts of the body be thoroughly protected. The head and the face by a strong,
hand-wrought wire mask. The neck and the breast by a stout leather jacket
reaching from the chin to a few inches below the waist, with a well-fitting
collar buttoning (behind) around the neck. The lower part of the body by a
leather flap or apron, either attached to the jacket or buckled round the
waist. The right hand by a soft and pliable leather glove or gauntlet, well
padded on the back.”

The apron is not seen very often, probably used more often
with sabre or broadsword.

Keep in mind
most of the outfit was probably custom made. Sporting equipment sellers of the
later 19th century show masks, foils and gloves for sale, as well as
a plastrons.

The jacket,
often of canvas or some stiff material, would button on the side opposite the
sword arm and was trim and waist-length. Jackets might be of leather for the
practice or singlestick or sabre. Pictures of fencers often display a wide belt
to denote the limit of the target area.

From an article in Frank Leslies Monthly called "Fencers and the Art of Fencing" 1893

The Fencing Mask

The fencing
mask evolved from a solid piece of iron covering the face to a mesh of strong
wire. Ear protectors were later added, as well as a simple bib. By the late 19th
century a full bib completed the mask.

From H. A.
Colmore Dunn’s book Fencing from 1889

“This should
be made of good stout wire, and should always be carefully inspected before
use, to see that none of the links are loose or failing, as the point of a foil
has been known to find its way through the space occupied by a single link. See
that the flaps are large enough to cover the ears properly, and also that the
top bar across the front of the mask does not interfere with the sight.”

FOIL MASKS

The Fencing
Jacket

These were generally
made of a stout canvas or leather, or a combination of the two. It would button
up on the side of the jacket away from the sword arm (hence right and left
handed jackets would be different).

Dunn
recommends that

“It is best
to have the jacket made of a material which, without being too heavy, is
sufficiently stiff to offer some resistance in the event of a foil breaking.
Some kind of canvas seems to combine these advantages as well as anything, and,
for the purposes of foil-play, is to be preferred to leather, which does better
to deaden the force of a cut in stick-play than to keep out a sharp point. Take
particular care that the jacket is made high in the collar, so as to protect
the throat by leaving no space uncovered between it and the mask. The neglect
of this precaution may lead to serious accidents, and also tends to spoil the
attitude, as, if the bare throat is exposed to attack, the head is
involuntarily thrust forward to protect the gap, and the result is that a
cramped position is acquired, which is exceedingly difficult to cure."

George Chapman”s
Foil Practice published in 1861 adds
that the fencing-master should also wear a well-padded plastron or leather
cuirass [chest protector], upon which the pupil during his lesson directs his
foil.

The Fencing Master by Julius Gari Melchers C. 1900 wearing a plastron with a heart

The required
white uniform of today was by no means a rule in the nineteenth century. White
was common, because it was easiest for the judges to see hits with the point of
the foil, but there are many examples of various colored jackets. Black was not
the sole property of the fencing master, and there did not seem to be any
conventions concerning this. Black uniforms were used in epee contests when the
chalk marks were used as a scoring device.

The black uniform
went in and out of favor as this attempt at scoring was debated. Breck’s
article in the Outing Magazine of 1895 congratulates an improvement in
the AFLA rules that eliminates the use of chalk as a marker for scoring.

“The new laws
are a vast improvement over those of last year. In the first place, the use of
chalked foil-points has been abolished. To enable the four judges to see
touches more easily, white jackets are required to be worn instead of the
hitherto customary suits of solemn black.”

Breck still
laments some of the rules and the uniform requirements that were unique to
America. In the United States the target area was limited to the upper inside
quarter of the jacket. Often jackets would have a line or extra patch of
material to designate the target.

“It is a
matter for regret that the median line rule has been retained. In France and
Italy a touch counts, as it obviously should, on either side of the body. The
collegians compromised by counting all touches on the right of a line drawn down
the middle of the left breast, which is certainly better than the A. F. L. A.
rule, the object of which is presumably to encourage accuracy. Some such
provision was necessary ten years ago, but fencing in America is no longer in
its swaddling clothes. There are many fencers in Paris who make a practice of
placing their points on their opponents' left sides.”

Note V. Z. Post's split color jacket denoting the foil target area

Finally, in
1892 Rondelle’s Foil and Sabre: A Grammar of Fencing merely indicates that
“The two costumes should be of the same color and of a strong material to avoid
accidents.”

The heart on
the breast of the fencing jacket was an affectation occasionally used,
sometimes by the instructor, less frequently on the fencer, though Thomas
Stephens mentions it in his New System of
Broad and Small Sword Exercise from 1843. “An easy dress should be worn,
and it is usual, in academies, to have a spot or heart on the left side of the
breast of the waistcoat.”

Fencing Pants &
Knickers

Trousers or
pantaloons were worn by men, the color of jacket and pants generally being
white or black, though this was not a rule. Pants worn followed the fashion of
the time. Knee Breeches or knickers were commonly worn by men in the 18th
century. Full length trousers came in to fashion in the early 19th
century as part of everyday wardrobe for men, and this is often part of the
fencing costume of the period Knee breeches remained associated with sporting
activities such as horseback riding, golf and fencing.

Egerton Castle wearing black fencing knee breeches or knickers

Though not
commonly seen, Castellote’s Handbook of
Fencing in 1882 adds:

“That a
leather thigh-pad is also a necessary precaution, especially when your
opponent’s play is unknown to you, and you have to run the risk of its being
violent or irregular.”

Many period
images show a wide belt being worn. According to the Squires 1890 Catalogue of Sportsman Supplies out of
New York, the fencing belt was made of red leather, three inches wide,
fancy-stitched, and kid-lined. The catalogue also notes that the belt “gives
strength and staying power”.

The fencing
rules of the amateur Athletic Union of the United States published in the
Spalding Athletic Guide of 1891 that in foil contests a fencing belt not
exceeding four inches in width should be worn. The belt delineates the lower
part of the target area in many rules.

Example of the Fencing Belt - Painting by Tancrede Bastet 1890

Fencing Gloves

Gloves did
not seem to be used until fencing became more of a sport or exercise. A glove
with a gauntlet would be worn on the hand handling the foil. There are pictures
of two types. One appears to be more of a training glove, thickly padded with a
leather gauntlet. The other was usually of a softer leather that enabled better
manipulation for the fingers. Dunn explains the necessity of the touch of the
fingers in fencing

“The
selection of a glove is by no means a matter of indifference, and it is
difficult to get a good one in this country. It should be just sufliciently
padded to save the hand, but subject to that it should be light and flexible,
so as to interfere as little as possible with the play of wrist and fingers.
Most English-made gloves are exceedingly faulty in this respect, being cumbrous
and shapeless, with no distinction in the length of the fingers. The padding
should be properly distributed, so as to protect the parts most exposed, and
particularly the tip of the thumb, which otherwise is apt to be jarred, the
grasp of the foil being thereby impaired. The fingers of the glove should be
well-shaped, following the configuration of the hand, so as to allow easy and
independent movement. To secure ample space for the wrist, it is well to have a
certain fullness at the point where the hand joins the gauntlet. To this end it
is better, as in the illustration, not to cut the gauntlet straight, but to
scollop a piece out of it, to be filled by the softer material of the glove, so
as to give scope for the bend of the wrist. The palm should be roomy, so as to
avoid cramping the thumb. If the hand is boxed up tightly in a stiff case,
there is no chance of fencing neatly and lightly, as you must be sensitive to
the slightest variations in the amount of pressure offered by your opponent to
your blade, if you are to detect and anticipate any change in his tactics to
which this pressure may be the prelude. This power of judging by the touch,
which may be compared to the faculty of “hands” in horsemanship, is one of the
most valuable qualities in fencing; but there is this point in the analogy in
favour of the latter—that in fencing, this quality, called by the French
masters “le sentiment du fer,” can, in a measure, be acquired by practice,
whilst -in the case of the former it appears to be more in the nature of a
fairy gift.”

Leather Fencing Glove

Padded Fencing Glove

Fencing Gauntlet

Fencing Shoes

One of the
more curious parts of the outfit was the fencing shoe. An inquiry on this
subject to Malcolm Fare of the National Fencing Museum in London revealed the
unique nature and evolution of this apparel. He reports that:

“These days
the thought of wearing a fencing shoe with a flap at the end does seem very
strange, yet they were used for some 250 years.The open-toed fencing sandal for the leading foot
was first depicted by De La Touche in Les vrays principes de l’espée
seule, 1670. Believed to provide greater freedom of movement than an
enclosed shoe, it had a sole projecting 2-3 inches beyond the toes. By the 18th century
both sandals and shoes were available with a projecting flap, which was used to
make a resonant sound, the appel*, during the salute.De Bast's Manuel D’Escrime, 1836, described fencing sandals
as a kind of slipper, the right one being open at the end so as to give the
toes freedom of movement, with the sole, which had an added layer of felt,
extending some way.George Chapman in The Art of Fencing, 1864, says “The shoes
should be of leather for the ‘uppers’ and of stout buff for the soles. The sole
of the right shoe is frequently made with a padded flap to protect the toes
from inconvenience in the fall of the foot; this addition to the shoe is not,
however, of necessity.”

*According to Viguier’s Vocabulaire D’Escrime, 1910, appels were
also used in a lesson to ensure that a pupil had good balance. During a bout
they served to accentuate feints and false attacks as well as distracting the
opponent. They were used to intimidate and undermine, making it possible to
gain distance and execute compound hits.

That was the theory. In practice, the flap gradually shortened during
the 19th century so that by the turn of the 20th century it barely projected
more than a quarter of an inch, yet was recognisably different from the shoe
worn on the other foot.”

Castellote
added in 1882 that if practicing outdoors you should wear light shoes with
spikes, but on boarded floors the shoes should be made of soft leather for the
top part and a stout buff for the soles.

The
Consolidate Library Volume of 1907 adds that “Ordinary, rubber-soled tennis
shoes are often worn by amateur fencers, but the regulation French fencing
shoes, which have broad, leather soles are the best. The principal requirement
is that the shoes shall not slip.”

Women’s Fencing Outfit

"L'escrimeuse" by French Impressionist painter Jean Beraud

Women’s
fencing outfits were not as strictly regulated since they practiced solely for
exercise, not having formal competitions until 1912.

In a 1902
article in Lady’s Realm magazine the women’s outfit at the London Ladies
Fencing Club is described.

“The club
uniform consists of a short silk lined black alpaca skirt with the regulation
brass-buttoned white linen fencing coat. The skirts
are cut somewhat after the fashion of the cycling skirt, and most of the
members wear black or white shoes. The stockings are either of silk or wool:
the silken hose is distinctly to be recommended for daintiness and finish. A
white glove with a black or scarlet gauntlet is drawn over the right hand.One very
skilful and graceful woman fencer deprecates—as does Lady Colin Campbell—the
wearing of a skirt. She is assured by long practice that full knickerbockers of
black satin or vicuna allow unfettered and more graceful play for the limbs.”

“from a
medical standpoint, it is best to protect the chest by wrapping strips of cloth
across it and under the arms to form a bandage to guard against any possible
bruise from being struck there with the foil button; about three yards of
cheese cloth or similar material crossed and recrossed until a firm solid
bandage is made as suggested.”

Fashion
influenced the New York upper class ladies who fenced. They would dress in
lavish elegant outfits of silk blouses designed by select tailors to cause
interest among the society newspapers, who might publish sketches of the
outfits. The colors and styles would be of a wide variety.

An article
from Harper’s Bazaar in 1900 informs us that “Much latitude is observed
in the costumes of the women who fence. While the majority wear padded linen
jackets, many wear shirt-waists of any color or material to suit their taste.
“Fussy” waists, however, are tabooed, and any sensible woman will recognize at
once the objection – the trial to the spirit of the fencing teacher, who must
be continually dodging about with his foil to avoid catching it in flowing lace
or ruffles or bows.”

The fencing
Foil, was made of steel, four sided and tapering to a point that was flattened
out in to a small round disc called the button. The button was “usually covered
with parchment or some other material to prevents damage to the opponent’s
jacket and ribs” according to the instructions of Every Boy’s Book of Sport and Pastime edited by Professor Hoffman
in 1897

From "Fencing" by Breck in 1915

Dunn
describes the blade, as quadrangular, and about thirty-three or thirty-four
inches long,

“The
remaining part of the foil, tapering down from the hilt to the end, which is
clenched by the “pummel,” made of steel or the like, is covered by a wooden
frame called the “grip.” It is of the utmost importance that the grip should be
of a good shape, following the formation of the hand when rightly placed. A
straight grip, such as is occasionally met with, does not afford nearly such a
comfortable, firm hold as one that is fairly arched, and fits in naturally with
the curve of the thumb. It should also be of a good length, say five inches, so
as to allow ample space for the hand, as, if too short, it is sure to contract
and tire the muscles. Another advantage of a long grip is that, on occasion, it
enables you, by slightly shifting the hand down towards the pummel, to deceive
your opponent in his calculation of the extent of your reach. A fair sized
pummel, say an inch and a half to two inches long, serves to balance the foil
and make it come up well in the hand.”

Chapman in 1861
says

“The best foil blades are manufactured at Solingen, and those numbered
5 are mostly made use of. Open guards of iron, slightly bent upwards, or
towards the point, for the better protection of the thumb, are generally used
in fencing, and are more convenient than close ones. Twisted twine is the best
covering for the handles, which are made of different sizes, slightly curved
and more or less squared or flattened. The handle should in no case be rounded,
nor should it be too much tapered towards the pummel; it should be of nearly
uniform size throughout. Lastly, the pummel should not be over large,and only sufficiently weighty to balance the
blade when placed on the forefinger, between two and three inches from the
guard."

Both Chapman
and Castellote tell us that a piece of gutta percha tied neatly over the
blunted end or button of the foil will answer to prevent accidents in lunging.
A hard and durable rubber or latex, gutta-percha was also used to make jewelry,
grips for pistols, furniture and golf balls until other cheaper materials
became easily available.

And the
Consolidated Library of 1907 says that in selecting foils

“choose a
pair that seem to be of the right weight for your strength; it will be best for
the beginner to learn with very light weapons. See that each balances, when
held with the blade supported by the finger an inch from the hilt. If not
provided with good-sized metal buttons, the point of the foil should be wound
with good, strong, waxed cord, so as to form a button nearly half an inch in
diameter; this is a desirable precaution even when metal buttons are provided.
The handle should be curved, and bound with twine.”

About the Victorian Fencing Society

The Victorian Fencing Society was formed in 2011 for the Research, Training and Demonstrations in the fashion of fencing from the nineteenth century.
We meet in the Dallas area for monthly practice in nineteenth century fencing techniques at the Fencing Institute of Texas. President and Instructor Jonathan Carr started fencing in 1984 and has been coaching fencing since 1997.
Our primary manuals of study come from the Fencing volume of the Badminton library published in 1889 by Walter H. Pollock, F.C. Grove and Camille Prevost, Foil and Sabre by Louis Rondelle published in 1892 in Boston, and Alfred Hutton’s treatise on Saber called Cold Steel published in 1889.
The society is open to all individuals interested in studying the history of fencing in the nineteenth century. No experience is necessary.
Please contact Jonathan Carr for any questions at the email listed in the contact info. Check out our facebook page for recent activity.